


Never Have I Ever Conned My Mom

by crystalkei



Series: Never Have I Ever Actually Fallen In Love [11]
Category: Never Have I Ever (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Scheming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25094443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalkei/pseuds/crystalkei
Summary: “I’m gonna need all the brainpower we’ve got for this,” Devi said, pulling her notebook out, after they’d all finished lunch at one of the tables. “We need to figure out how to con my mom and Paxton’s mom into meeting but not actually talking.”“Your mom still doesn’t know you’re dating,” Fabiola clarified.“Nope. And the goal is to graduate from medical school before I have to come clean with the information.”“At the very least undergrad,” Paxton added.
Relationships: Paxton Hall-Yoshida/Devi Vishwakumar, Trent Harrison/Eleanor Wong
Series: Never Have I Ever Actually Fallen In Love [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1761826
Comments: 12
Kudos: 60





	Never Have I Ever Conned My Mom

**Author's Note:**

> this is...long. got away from me. but oh well! here we go!

As per usual, Devi and the gang met at the pool with lunch and then planned to swim, do some studying, and hang out. But today, Devi had other plans. 

“I’m gonna need all the brainpower we’ve got for this,” Devi said, pulling her notebook out, after they’d all finished lunch at one of the tables. “We need to figure out how to con my mom and Paxton’s mom into meeting but not actually talking.”

“Your mom still doesn’t know you’re dating,” Fabiola clarified. 

“Nope. And the goal is to graduate from medical school before I have to come clean with the information.” 

“At the very least undergrad,” Paxton added. 

“So why do you want your moms to meet?” Eleanor asked, before looking at Trent like he had more info. He did not. 

“My mom won’t stop talking about meeting Dr. Vishwakumar.” Paxton inched closer to Devi so he could doodle on the edge of the notebook. 

“Why?” Eve asked. 

This time Trent cut in. “Mrs. Hall-Yoshida tries so hard to be a cool mom. She probably wants to invite Devi’s mom to her book club or whatever.” 

Paxton nodded, “It’s probably that.” 

“So why are we trying to get them to meet? Shouldn’t we be trying to keep them apart? Mrs. H-Y is gonna spill the beans and then your mom will ground you until you’re 300.” Fabiola made a point or two. 

“Keeping them apart means living in constant fear of them running into each other accidentally,” Devi explained. “And we can’t control it. They could chit chat and pass information and we’d be dead.” 

Paxton pulled out his phone and switched the song playing on the main pool’s speakers. “How do we have a controlled meet and greet that pleases my mom enough but doesn’t give your mom any information?”

“Or better yet, makes Devi’s mom like Paxton?” Eve added. 

Devi and Paxton looked at her beaming. Devi pointed at Eve. “Even better, Eve. Great idea.” 

“It’s an idea but how do we make it happen? You can’t script two people who don’t know they’re being scripted,” Eleanor said, lifting up the strap on her suit that had fallen off her shoulder. Trent adjusted the shoulder of her lacy swim cover and she swatted at him. 

“I’m helping,” Trent whispered like the entire group wasn’t aware of the odd dynamics at play with the two of them still not discussing their feelings. 

“I got it,” she whispered back. 

“We have to con them.” Devi steepled her fingers. 

“Who let her watch  _ Ocean’s 8 _ again?” Paxton asked, shaking his head. 

“Cate Blanchett’s understated role is worth many rewatches!” Eleanor shouted. 

“And all the heist tech is fun, don’t we deserve to watch  _ Ocean’s 8 _ ?” Fabiola asked. 

Trent shrugged. “I gotta agree with the girls on this one, it’s an instant classic and feminist favorite.” 

Devi turned to Paxton and smiled. “It’s not my fault your mom wouldn’t let you out after your wisdom teeth extraction! Everyone likes the movie!” 

McEnroe: Sounds like Trent is kissing Eleanor’s ass but I’ll allow it because I do love seeing all the celeb cameos at the MET gala.

“You can’t con our moms. Where would we even start?” 

Eve snapped, several times in succession, like it was helping her think. “Target! What mom doesn’t love Target?”

“She’s right!” Devi’s eyes lit up. “We can control it, too!” 

“How?” Paxton asked, confused. 

“We order stuff for a Target drive up order. We don’t even let them in the store. They both show up at the same time, park next to each other, and bam! We got ‘em.” 

“But how do we make sure they don’t talk about us?” Paxton looked at his phone again and changed the song. 

Fabiola instantly recognized the song and started to dance in place in her awkward little shake, her shoulders moving.    
  


“Is this Hayley Kiyoko? You like Hayley Kiyoko?” she asked Paxton. 

“We stan a Japanese American lesbain in my house.” 

“She’s hot, too,” Trent added. 

“Starting to think you might have a type, Trent.” Paxton raised his brows and slightly pointed his chin at Eleanor. 

“Uh, I gotta go back to the desk.” Trent got up so fast he knocked Eleanor’s floppy hat off.    
  
“Hey!” she cried, but Trent reached for it and handed it back to her before bolting back to the safety of the front desk. 

Eleanor glared at Paxton. “Quit that.” 

“Just do something!” Paxton threw up his hands. 

Devi put her hand on his thigh. “Hey, back to the point, bud, we’ve got moms to con.” 

“How? I’m not sure my mom has ever actually done a curbside Target order because she always wants to go in the store. If I tell her I need something at Target, she just goes in. She spends 15 minutes easy at the Dollar Spot and then another hour just meandering the store. Maybe we could get them to meet at the Dollar Spot but how do we get them to not talk about us?” 

“We just need to keep them on task. They have to be in a hurry.” Devi pulled out her phone and looked at their family calendar. “We gotta find a day they’re both busy so the only way they can get what they need is to pick it up fast. We need to have them thinking about whatever they’re doing next so your mom doesn’t rat us out, and my mom doesn’t ask questions about why your mom is so enthusiastic to see her.” 

“You’re saying a lot of stuff that feels way out of our window of control, Devi,” Fabiola said. Eve nodded in agreement. 

“We can do it.” 

“And if we can’t, then my mom tells your mom how happy she is that we’re dating and we’re screwed.” Paxton’s leg was shaking and Devi leaned further into him to try and at least slow the panic. 

“It’s better than the alternative, your mom running into my mom, without any safeguards.” 

Eleanor raised her hand. “What if you just tell Mrs. H-Y that your mom doesn’t know you’re dating and she can’t know?”

Devi and Paxton both shook their heads. 

“Then we’d have to tell Paxton’s mom that my mom roasted him within an inch of his life. That my mom thinks Paxton will ruin my life.”    
  
“That will probably lead to my mom being mad and embarrassed and then another sex talk and talk about why it’s not a good idea to keep secrets from parents!” 

Devi nodded as Paxton finished.    
  
“We can’t tell my mom we’re dating and we can’t tell Paxton’s mom that my mom doesn’t know that we’re dating and can’t know.” 

McEnroe: My head is spinning a little. 

Everyone’s phone went off at once with a weather alert, the high pitched beep caused Devi to cover her ears. Paxton looked at his phone and was up and running. 

“Get everybody out of the pool,” he shouted at Amy and the other life guards on the stands. 

They blew their whistles and people started slowly filtering out. Devi looked at the weather warning, thunderstorm imminent. Sure enough, a loud crash of thunder shook the air just then. 

Trent came running out and took Eleanor’s hand, “We need to get inside, c’mon!” 

The girls followed Trent into the office. Another loud crash and people who had been slowly exiting the pool moved faster. Devi stood looking out the window, watching people gather their stuff and run. Fabiola pressed her face to the glass next to her. 

“It’s coming in fast,” she said, pointing to the dark clouds. “Should we go home?”

“My app says it won’t last long, maybe 15 minutes, but it’s red which is the worst it can be. Even said there might be hail,” Trent explained. He was still holding Eleanor’s hand and either Eleanor hadn’t noticed or didn’t care. 

Another crack and lightning spread across the sky. It was close enough they could see it just over the pool. It felt like it was right above them. 

Eve pulled Fabiola away from the window and they sat on the floor next to the desk. 

“Devi, you shouldn’t be by the window , it’s not like your house, that glass isn’t even double paned,” Eve told her. 

But Devi was looking for Paxton. He was making sure people were heading to the locker rooms, she could see him on the other side of the pool. It was just rain so it’d be fine. It was fine. She gulped. Fine. 

Then the rain started to come down. Hard. The tin roof of the building sounded like it might cave in from the pounding of the big raindrops. It was harder to see, the rain came down in sheets and lightning streaked across the sky, causing flashes of light in the thick clouds.

“Where’d he go?” Devi asked, annoyed and worried. 

“Maybe he hunkered down in the pump building, on the backside of the pool?” Trent suggested. 

Devi looked over her shoulder at Trent who was sitting on top of the desk with Eleanor right next to him, they were still holding hands. Eleanor lost her hat in the rush and Devi realized her notebook was out there. She’d need a whole new notebook for the con. 

A crash shook the building, the window Devi was looking through trembled with the force of the thunder so she took a step back, but as the lightning flashed, she saw Paxton heading for the building. 

Devi ran for the door, pushing it open so Paxton could run through, just before the hail started. Devi smacked his chest when he made it in the building. She closed the door and let him catch his breath and then she smacked his arm. 

“What? Were you rescuing kittens out of a tree? Or a grandma in a wheelchair? You scared me!” 

Trent handed Paxton a towel that he put over his head first and then started drying off his chest. 

“You’re mad at me?” Paxton huffed. She went to smack him again but he caught her wrist. “Chill!”

“You coulda been struck by lightning!”

“Devi,” he said quieter, pulling her off to the side, not that there was any privacy. There was only ever enough room for two people behind the desk. “It’s a rainstorm, not a disaster movie. I got wet. I’m fine. I just had to make sure everyone got inside.”

Devi felt foolish. He was right and she was way overhyped for what had actually transpired. 

“I left my notebook outside,” Devi said, tearing up, embarrassed. 

“It’s okay.” Paxton pulled her against his chest. 

She went easily, resting her head on his shoulder, and tried not to cry. She’d overreacted and everybody saw. And worse, Paxton had been mad at her for overreacting. Sure, he was hugging her now but how many times was he going to just let her yell at him or cry on him? Surely he would eventually get tired of her breaking down. 

McEnroe: Sounds like something Devi needs to bring up to Dr. Ryan. But she’d have to tell Dr. Ryan about this relationship first. If it’s anything like the mom con, we really can’t say for sure if it will happen. 

Paxton looked over at Trent and Eleanor. 

“Really, guys?”

At the same time, they both let go of the other’s hand and put six inches between them. 

“What?” Trent asked as Eleanor said “Nothing!” 

Fab and Eve both stifled laughs from their spot on the floor. 

Paxton scrubbed his face. “Are we gonna close? I think Amy’s in the ladies’ locker room, we should ask her.” 

“Yeah, it’s gonna rain hard for a while,” Trent answered. He held up his phone with the weather app. The prediction of a quick storm had changed. “Guess we have plenty of time to plan that mom con now.”

Eleanor’s phone started chirping. “Ugh, my dad wants me to come right home.” 

“You can’t go anywhere until the sideways rain stops. I’m sure he doesn’t want you driving in that,” Trent said. 

“So we’re just gonna sit here or does Paxton have those flashcards or what?” Fabiola asked.   
  
“The flashcards are at my house,” Devi said, wiping her eyes and turning back to her friends. “But the mom con, that we can work on.” 

“It’s never going to work.” Eve shook her head. “Too many variables. Do your moms even shop at the same Target?” 

“Yeah and what if your mom sends Kamala to pick up the order, then the whole thing is a bust,” Eleanor said. 

“No, I’m gonna make this work. I can make this work.” Devi jut out her chin. She could do this. 

McEnroe: It’s going to be interesting. But Devi’s passion to succeed was only enhanced by people suggesting she couldn’t do it. Spite was a classic motivator for Devi. 

When the rain slowed down, Eve and Fabiola went to collect all the bags so they could head home with Eleanor. Devi hung back with Paxton. The pool was going to close so she waited on the desk for him. Trent found a half broken umbrella in the supply closet and walked Eleanor to her wood paneled van. 

“Thanks for thinking quick and pulling me inside,” Eleanor said to Trent, as they walked to the van. “I would have gotten there on my own but thanks for it anyway.”

She didn’t look him in the eye as she fumbled with her keys to open the driver’s side door. He held the umbrella over her head but it was broken and it didn’t offer too much cover. 

“Hey, E,” Trent started. 

Eleanor got the door open and quickly moved to sit in the driver’s seat. Trent leaned closer so he could talk to her. 

“It’s not a good idea,” she said, without giving him a chance to say whatever he was going to say. 

“I didn’t say anything yet.”

“You’re supposed to date girls like Zoe or Madison Sinclair or Kaitlin Ryan or Emma, that hot senior with the undercut. Guys like you don’t date girls like me and that’s fine.” 

“I don’t want to date Zoe or Kaitlin Ryan.” He frowned. “And your best friend is literally dating my best friend, I think there’s some solid precedent here.” 

“I didn’t break up with Oliver to date you!” Eleanor smacked the steering wheel for effect because who was she if she wasn’t selling the emotion? “I have other stuff going on! It’s just summer time and I”m bored so whatever.” 

“I let you dye my hair, what other things can I do to allow for your theatrics to prove that-”

Eleanor grabbed his collar and pulled his head further in the car to kiss him. Their teeth bumped but that didn’t seem to bother either of them. She felt her heart race and didn’t understand why kissing him gave her a rush she didn’t get from Oliver. But just as quickly as it started, Eleanor pushed Trent away. 

“Cmon, you kissed me! What am I supposed to think?” 

But Eve and Fabiola were walking towards the van and Eleanor kept her eyes ahead, not looking at Trent. 

  
“I don’t know what to think either!” She wiped at her face and then moved down her neck and settled on fiddling with her necklace. 

“I don’t understand you at all,” Trent said, shutting her door and storming off. 

When Fabiola opened the front passenger door she looked at Eleanor with wide eyes. But didn’t say anything. 

“You gotta make up your mind, Eleanor,” Eve chimed in from the back seat as she shut the door. 

Fab turned around and snapped at her. “Don’t say anything!” 

Eleanor huffed and started the car. 

McEnroe: Fab wasn’t just trying to protect her friend, though that was obviously priority number one. But also, Eve and Fabiola had made a wager. Eve put forth that Eleanor would get over whatever weird hangup about dating Trent before school started. Actually, she predicted within the month but the solid line for the bet, was before school started. Fabiola felt sure, knowing her friend for longer, that Eleanor wouldn’t commit to Trent until school started. Why? Because once school started, Paxton would likely still keep close to Devi, but Trent was likely to gravitate back to the Hot Pocket. Back to the popular guys. It wouldn’t be just his absence from their little group that would do it, though, it’d be the chance that Trent would pursue other girls at school. 

If Fabiola had seen, like you and I did, what Eleanor had just said to Trent about him dating other girls, she might feel less secure in her position. But hey, that’s the fun part of being the narrator. We got to see it, Fab didn’t. 

Back in the office, Devi tried to apologize to Paxton for freaking out. 

“It’s your job and it was just rain and some lightning and of course you were fine, I’m sorry I acted like that.” Devi watched the last few people file out of the locker rooms, not looking Paxton in the eye. “I swear I can be stable and not have weird fits that make me look like a crazy person!” 

“Hey.” Paxton tapped her shoulder, causing her to turn and finally look at him. “You were scared. It was scary for a second. I didn’t mean to downplay that. I’m sorry.” 

He kissed her forehead and Devi felt that gnawing feeling in her gut that was becoming all too familiar. She probably loved Paxton Hall-Yoshida and didn’t know what the fuck she was supposed to do with that. 

Trent stomped in and threw the half broken umbrella in the trash, interrupting anything else that might be said between Devi and Paxton. He pulled the cash drawer out and a file folder. 

“So things are still not moving with Eleanor then, huh?” Paxton asked. 

“I swear to God, not right now, man.” Trent’s jaw was tight.

Devi turned to go out the back way and gather her own stuff. Her bag was probably soaked and her notebook was trashed but she needed to clean up her mess. But before she touched the door, Trent started. 

“Why’s your friend like this?”   
  
“I don’t know,” Devi answered gently. 

“I feel like a jerk! Like I’m stalking her but then she does stuff like that!” He threw out his arm, pointing to the parking lot. “She just kissed me and pushed me away all in a 15 second span. I’m over these mixed signals!” 

Paxton bit his lip. “Maybe just leave her alone? Let her figure it out.” 

“See if I send her a musical TikTok before she goes to sleep like always let her figure out how to deal without that!” 

Devi headed out the door and Paxton followed her.

“Did that seem like the best advice?” Paxton asked. “I don’t know anymore.”

“Seemed like a good idea. Maybe we should have meddled?”

“I don’t know anymore,” Paxton said, fixing lounge chairs as he walked. 

\--

Paxton didn’t usually come to the door. If he was picking Devi up, he texted from the Jeep and waited for her. If her mom was home, he waited for her down the street a little to make sure he wouldn’t be spotted. But they were supposed to go to the library this morning to study before Paxton had to work, it was the only time Devi could squeeze it in because there was a summer orchestra meeting in the afternoon. 

So they were supposed to study but he’d texted and called and she hadn’t responded so he knocked on the door but it was like nobody was home. He took a step back, looking up at the house. He thought about shouting towards her window or throwing rocks like some 80’s movie but before he could do either of those things, Devi answered the door. She clearly overslept. Her hair was wild, her eyes squinted in the sun, and she was wearing...his sweats. The ones he’d let her borrow the night of Ben Gross’ party months ago. 

She dated Ben Gross for several months after the clothes were borrowed and Paxton never got them back. 

“Oversleep, Vishwakumar?” he asked, playfully. 

Devi looked confused and then it dawned on her. She slapped her forehead. “Oh my god, I forgot!” 

“You reminded me last night before I went to sleep,” he said, walking past her into the house when she gestured for him to come in. 

“I was reading before I went to sleep, I totally forgot!” 

“Where’s Kamala?” Paxton looked around as he came in. 

“Uh, she had a thing. Something about a building? I don’t remember.” Devi wiped her eyes and headed for the stairs. 

“If she’s not here, and your mom’s not here, we can just study here and then you don’t have to get dressed.” 

  
“Yeah, okay. I’m gonna pee and brush my teeth, go get your stuff and meet me in my room.”

Paxton was leaning on his hand, half on the end of her bed, attempting to tackle a math question. He already didn’t love practicing for the math section but he couldn’t keep his eyes off Devi who seemed absolutely engrossed in the problem she was doing at the head of the bed. It was maybe the fact that her hair was piled on her head in a messy bun that kept coming loose, or maybe it was her glasses because she didn’t wear those except when they were doing math. But it was more likely the fact that he gave her those clothes to wear months ago and she’d kept them and apparently wore them and he had no idea. Did she wear those when she dated Ben Gross? Was she wearing underwear or going commando in  _ his _ clothes?

“Devi,” he said, tugging on the cuff of his sweatshirt that she was wearing. 

“Hm?” She didn’t even look up. 

  
“Devi.” He tugged on the cuff again, his fingers brushing the inside of her wrist. 

That got her attention. She looked up at him and smiled. “What?”

“Why’re you wearing my clothes?” 

Devi didn’t hesitate, didn’t look down, she looked him straight in the eye, her tongue almost came out to taunt him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“I watched you walk up the stairs, Hall-Yoshida is on the back of the hoodie!” Paxton scoffed. 

She sat up straighter, putting her pencil down, and moving so he couldn’t see the back of the hoodie, even a little. 

“Maybe,” she started as she pulled the hood up over her messy bun and looked at him through her lashes. “You need glasses because it definitely does not say your name on it.” 

Paxton stood up, walked to the other side of the bed, Devi shifted so the back of the hoodie wasn’t visible to him as he came, but he took hold of the hem of the hoodie. Devi squealed, a giggle that he had never heard from her as he pulled the sweatshirt over her head and threw it on the floor behind him. 

“That,” Devi said, breathing heavy, trying to suppress her smile by pouting. “Was very rude! What if I was naked under that!”

He looked at Devi’s tank top a second before remembering that he should be checking the back of the sweatshirt for his name. But instead of doing that (he knew it was his) he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. 

“Oh, so you’re ripping my clothes off now,” Devi said, pulling the collar on his shirt to get him closer. 

He put a knee on the bed, using his free hand to close her book and sweep it out of the way, so he could move over her. Devi used her own leg to make room and move his book, eagerly. 

“They’re  _ my _ clothes,” he said against her lips. 

Devi bit his bottom lip, Paxton tried not to groan.    
  
“Nope, pretty sure they’re mine!” 

“They’re definitely mine, just take them off and I’ll prove it.” He pulled back, and Devi tried to drag him back down, but he didn’t budge. 

“What? Did your mom put your initials on the tag?” Devi shifted her hips underneath him, knowing exactly what she was doing. 

Paxton closed his eyes for a beat and then reached for the waistband of the sweatpants, his fingers skimming along her bare skin. Devi shifted again, this time, she lifted herself up off the bed so she could push the pants down and off. She reached around Paxton’s arm, grabbed the pants she just pulled off, and threw them towards the sweatshirt.

“You can’t prove they’re yours if they’re way over there,” she said, moving to undo the buttons on his shirt. 

He handled the buttons on his pants and the teamwork meant that seconds later he was back to kissing her. 

McEnroe: I think we all can guess what happened next but I’m not gonna tell you. It’s none of my business. 

Afterwards, Devi went to shower and Paxton thought he’d have his chance to steal back his clothes, but they weren’t anywhere on the floor. He got dressed and when Devi came out of the shower, he was still looking. 

“They’re not yours,” she said, standing in the doorway, combing through her wet hair. 

“Where’d you put them?” He walked by her and peeked around the corner into the bathroom. 

“I put them away,” Devi explained. “Because they’re mine!”

“Fine. Keep them.” Paxton gave her a half smile. “But just tell me the truth.”

He put his arm above her on the door frame, trapping her in the doorway. Devi looked up at him coyly. 

“Did you wear those when you dated Ben Gross?”

Devi’s mouth dropped, but she recovered quickly, and bit her bottom lip. “Wouldn’t you like to know!” 

“Yes, that’s why I asked,” he teased, before kissing her forehead. 

She scrunched up her face. “I don’t know why it matters to you if  _ my _ sweats were part of the regular rotation of  _ my _ clothing, months and months ago.” 

“You dating Ben Gross when I didn’t even know he was in the running was a dark time for me! Let me have this!” 

Devi kissed his cheek. “You can have whatever you like, except those sweats back.” 

Paxton wasn’t sure what that meant except that he wasn’t getting that pair of sweats back. But he decided he was right. He decided she had done it. And he would think about that now whenever he ran into Ben Gross.

—

  
  


McEnroe: It took about a week but Devi’s plan to con the moms was a go. Everyone met at Target. Eleanor and her wood paneled minivan parked on one side of the drive up lanes and Eve and Fab, in Eve’s mom’s Toyota, parked on the other side of the drive up lanes, meaning that anyone who needed to pick up a drive up order had to be right next to each other. Paxton, Devi, and Trent in the backseat of the Jeep were on the far end of the parking lot so they could watch what happened and wouldn’t be seen by either of the moms. 

“So now we wait,” Devi said, unbuckling her seatbelt and inching closer to the windshield. 

Her phone rang, it was Eleanor. “My window won’t roll up!” 

“What?”

“The automatic window, it won’t roll up, somebody’s mom is going to see me!” 

Devi could hear Eleanor through the phone grunting, trying to pull the window up. Devi looked at Paxton and he shook his head, unsure what to do. 

“We can’t go over there, what if either mom pulls up?” Paxton asked.

“I got it,” Trent said, resigned. 

“Are you sure?” Devi asked, but Trent had already shut the car door and was heading towards Eleanor. 

“They’re still not talking,” Paxton said, watching Trent walk through the parking lot. 

“Great, they’re gonna blow the con with a big fight and our moms are going to be so confused.” Devi scrubbed her eyes, frustrated

“Confused is better than talking about us, isn’t it?” 

Trent disappeared behind what they could see of Eleanor’s van. 

Eleanor grunted, trying still to force the window up herself. Trent opened the door and she snapped. “It just won’t go up!” 

“Turn the car back on for a sec,” he instructed. Eleanor didn’t fight him at all, which was a relief because he expected her to.

When the car was on, Trent pushed the button on the old automatic window and held it while physically pulling the glass and managed to get it up almost the whole way.    
  
“That’s good enough.” 

“Thanks,” Eleanor said, before spotting Devi’s mom’s car over his shoulder. “Get in, it’s Devi’s mom!” 

Trent looked over his shoulder and ducked, he slammed Eleanor’s door before rushing around the car to get in the passenger side door. “Did she see me?”

“I don’t think so!” Eleanor put on her big sunglasses and leaned down in her seat. 

**Trent to GROUP:  
** Dr. V has landed. Damn. That’s a good code name. Your mom sounds like a villain in a Marvel movie.

  
  


“I guess Trent and Eleanor are fine,” Paxton said, reading the text and then looking out to see Devi’s mom sitting in her car at the drive thru spot. 

“Where’s your mom?” Devi asked, leaning closer to Paxton to try and see better. “Target employees are so damn fast we’re gonna miss our window!” 

**Fabiola to GROUP:  
** Mrs. H-Y’s SUV is coming in the south entrance

Devi and Paxton both looked around the parking lot, frantically. 

“South? I don’t know what direction is south!” Devi said, before Paxton pointed to the far end of the parking lot. 

“I don’t know if that’s south but that’s my mom’s car.” He took Devi’s hand and squeezed, he was nervous. 

**Eleanor to GROUP:  
** She’s right next to us, right next to your mom! It’s working! 

  
  


A Target employee with bags headed towards the cars. 

“Oh no! They’re already delivering the bags! They haven’t even noticed each other!” 

“It’s not gonna work,” Paxton muttered under his breath.    
  


But the employee went past both cars for a car on the opposite side. 

**Eleanor to GROUP:  
** Paxton your mom is on her phone she’s not paying attention at all!!!

  
  


“Goddamnit!” Devi hit the dash of the car with a fist. 

“Don’t swear at my mom,” Paxton said, giving Devi a dirty look. 

“I’m not swearing at her,” Devi said, “I’m swearing in her general direction!” 

“What’s your mom doing?”

Devi sent off a text asking the group because she couldn’t see, Mrs. H-Y’s SUV was taller than her mom’s car and blocked the view. 

**Fabiola to GROUP:  
** She was collecting trash in the car, I think? Oh no, she’s getting OUT TO PUT THE TRASH IN THE CAN BY THE CART RETURN

  
  


“No!” Paxton shouted but Devi pushed on his chest. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine, look it’s right in your mom’s line of sight! This is good!” She pointed to her mom walking right in front of Mrs. Hall-Yoshida’s SUV. 

But Paxton’s mom didn’t look up. 

“Dammit she’s probably playing Word Cookies. I shoulda deleted it off her phone last night!” Paxton leaned on the steering wheel. 

Nalini got back into her car without a glance at Paxton’s mom’s SUV and just as she did, a Target employee came out with her bags. Right behind that employee, another one followed with a couple of cases of water for Mrs. Hall-Yoshida’s order. They could see each employee talking, phones were scanned, greetings exchanged, hatch and trunk were popped and closed and each mom restarted their respective cars. 

Paxton put his hands in his hair and pulled from the root to the ends of his hair, making it stand up. “They were right there!” 

Devi slumped in the passenger seat and screamed. “We were so close!” 

**Eleanor to GROUP:  
** Idk if this counts as good news but they did exchange brief eye contact while pulling out, Mrs. H-Y gestured for Dr. V to go first and she did. That’s something, maybe?

  
  


“It didn’t work.” 

Devi stomped her feet gently against the floor of the car then took a cleansing breath. “It’s fine. We’ll just go to plan B.” 

“Devi,” Paxton started but she shushed him. 

“I have plans all the way out to J so this is fine. We can do this.” 

Paxton looked at Devi, her face resolved and stern. If anyone could pull something off like this off, it was her. 

“Alright.” He touched her knee. “What’s plan B?”

**Fabiola to GROUP:  
** Uh, Eleanor, there’s an employee heading towards your car!

  
  


Back in Eleanor’s van, Trent leaned over Eleanor to try and mess with the window again, trying to get it the last little bit up. 

Eleanor saw the text, looked over her shoulder to see the employee, and grabbed Trent’s face and pressed her lips against his. 

Trent instantly responded, reaching for her face, forgetting all about the window. Eleanor’s breath hitched when his hand slid up her neck and settled on her cheek. 

A knock on the window scared them both apart, Trent’s elbow hit the horn which caused Eleanor to jump a second time. 

“Ma’am,” a Target employee said on the other side of the window. “This is a drive up lane, you can’t park here.” 

Trent waved and nodded his head. “We’re gonna move!” 

Eleanor’s cheeks were flushed and she nodded along, unable to say anything. Trent settled back into his seat and Eleanor started the car so the employee would walk away. 

“I guess that was just for the con, huh?” Trent asked, putting his seatbelt on and looking out his window so he wouldn’t have to look at her. 

“No.”   
  
His head snapped back to look at her quickly but she only looked forward. Eleanor took a shaky breath and put the van in drive, pulling through the empty parking spot in front of her. Trent looked away and missed her touching her lips, quickly, before moving some hair over her ear. 

“Yes. Yeah. The con. Right. The con.” 

McEnroe: I don’t think even Eleanor believed that lie. Trent certainly didn’t. 

\--

McEnroe: There was a second mom con to plan but Devi recognized that something more important had to come first. Dr. Ryan would be so proud of her for noticing. Eleanor was going through it. No one was really sure what “it” was, but they all could see she was not doing well. So Devi had the girls over for a feelings intervention. 

She did not get a sign, though she considered it at Paxton’s suggestion. He even offered to help her make one, but he admitted he’d been binging  _ How I Met Your Mother _ before he went to bed every night and maybe a sign would be overkill. 

(Poor guy hadn’t heard the way that one ends, someone should have warned him. Oh well, I’m just a narrator and I don’t really want to warn him because to be honest I think his raging reactions might be entertaining for me when we get there. Anyway.) 

Eleanor’s phone dinged three times in a row before Devi could hold back on the feelings intervention any longer. 

“Eleanor, what’s going on?” Devi asked, offering her a bag of Chex Mix.    
  
“With what?” Eleanor was looking at her phone, distracted. 

“With Trent,” Fabiola chimed in. 

“Trent what? I didn’t-” Eleanor looked up from her phone. 

“Was that him or something?” Devi asked. 

Eleanor pursed her lips and looked away, like she might be formulating a lie, but instead, she turned back and sighed. “He sends me TikToks throughout the day and I watch them when I go to bed.” 

“Like I watch ASMR before bed,” Fabiola said, understanding. 

“That’s so,” Devi tilted her head and thought for a moment. “That’s so sweet of him. I didn’t know Trent could be thoughtful like that. Does he send you like, specific ones, is he curating ones you’ll specifically like?”

“I don’t think Trent likes  _ Wicked _ but he does send me at least one with a  _ Wicked _ reference or joke in it.” 

“How long has he been doing that?” Devi was genuinely surprised by this small thing Trent was doing for Eleanor. 

Eleanor clicked her tongue a few times, thinking. “He started sending me stuff after prom. Because of the Buffy takeover that the seniors in drama did, but he just never stopped sending them to me. He used to bug me and ask if I’d watched this one or that but I told him I watched them before bed to fall asleep and he started sending me a few more, and he’d send more before I went to bed. It just started happening.”

Fabiola looked at Eleanor curiously. “Why aren’t you dating Trent, Eleanor?”

Eleanor grabbed a package of Oreos and started to pick at the seams of the package. 

“Eleanor?” Devi prodded, gently. 

“I don’t know.” She swallowed, put the Oreos down, and started fiddling with her necklace. 

“Do you not like Trent?” Devi asked. 

“No, I like him.” 

“Did he do something to you? Did he...hurt you?” Fabiola asked, concerned. 

“No,” Eleanor was quick to answer. “Something is just holding me back and it’s frustrating!” 

“What’s holding you back?” Devi took the Oreos and dug in the package to get one. 

“I don’t know!” Eleanor threw her hands up. 

“Okay,” Fabiola said, with a curt nod. “Pros and cons list time.” 

“Ooooooh, can I make a Powerpoint?” Devi asked, excited. 

“We don’t need a Powerpoint.” Eleanor shook her head. “But a pros and cons list is definitely happening. Let’s do this.” 

They worked together for the better part of an hour and came up with a simple pros and cons list. On the con column there was just one: can be stupid. On the pro column, the list was longer: cute, good kisser, funny, sends TikToks, kind, gets everyone into the pool free, will watch any movie Eleanor suggests, and finally listens to whatever Eleanor says.

“As you can see from this beautiful pros and cons list,” Devi gave Fab a round of applause for the aesthetically pleasing list. “It looks like you should date Trent.” 

Eleanor sighed, her frown grew deeper by the minute. “Yeah, that didn’t help. I’m still not sure what is bothering me.” 

“I’m gonna pretend I’m my therapist,” Devi said. “I’m gonna ask you some open ended questions and maybe we can get to the issue.” 

Devi handed Eleanor a throw pillow and gestured for her to hold it against her chest. That’s what Devi did in therapy to feel safe so she was setting the scene for Eleanor. 

“Does any of this hesitancy relate to say, your dad dying?”

Both Fab and Eleanor groaned.

“What? That was a great impression of my therapist!” Devi shook her head. “Okay fine, fine, no more jokes, real questions.” 

Fabiola started before Devi could continue though, “Do you ever think about what your life would be like if you just went out with Trent? If Trent were your boyfriend?”

“Oh, damn, good question, Fab.” Devi offered her hand for a high five, Fab took it without taking her eyes off Eleanor. 

Eleanor paused. She reached for her phone and did some looking, then turned to show them a picture. It was a selfie from the night of Zoe’s party, Trent took the photo, so his hair was half up, Eleanor was over his shoulder, the brush in her hand, and they were both smiling really wide. 

“Sometimes I look at this and think about being his girlfriend.” 

Devi touched her chest, it was so sweet. She really needed to take way more photos with Paxton, she couldn’t think of a single pic they had that she liked as much as this selfie Eleanor had with Trent. Note for the next day, selfies. 

Back to Eleanor though, this wasn’t about Devi and Devi knew that! “What do you see when you think about it?”

“I don’t see anything different,” Eleanor explained, her shoulders slumped. “It looks like my life right now.” 

“Isn’t that...good?” Fab asked, her brows furrowed. “I think we’ve all figured out that dating someone doesn’t change who we are, right? Like I’m not different because I hold Eve’s hand. Devi...well Devi had to work through some stuff first.” 

“Hey!” Devi was mildly offended but Fab was technically correct.    
  
“But Paxton doesn’t make her someone different. She’s the same. I mean if anything, Paxton’s kinda different but I don’t think him deciding to study is a bad thing.” 

Devi held up her finger. “Point of order, he’s super insecure about everyone thinking he’s stupid. He’s not stupid.” 

“We know that now,” Eleanor replied. “But it was a little weird at first.” 

“Eleanor, do you like Trent?” Fab asked, bringing it up again. 

“He’s cute and hot and funny and I like when he holds my hand. It’s nice. I like kissing him too. And he seemed to know what he was doing when he had an all access pass to my boobs.”

Fabiola cringed a little, but got a hold of herself. “You know, you could just try it out, dating Trent, you could just try it. See how it goes?”

Eleanor hugged the pillow closer to herself and was quiet a moment. 

“If you don’t like being with Trent you could just not. You could say it’s not working,” Devi offered. 

“I could do that.” Eleanor nodded slowly, processing. 

Devi and Fab nodded with her. 

McEnroe: Maybe Eleanor’s hot and cold behavior is handled. Maybe. 

\--

Everyone met at the Starbucks inside Target on the approved day. Devi devised a plan that included waiting 10 days since the last (failed) Target mom con because that seemed like a reasonable amount of time before she could con her own mom into going back to Target. (Paxton wanted it noted that his mom would have gone back to Target the next day if asked, and had even made another trip in between the two cons on her own.) 

“Fab and Eve, I need you guys to camp out there in the women’s section right in front of the Dollar Spot, but you know, discreetly, so the moms don’t see you or recognize you,” Devi explained. 

Paxton walked over to where they were sitting and handed Devi her chai. 

“We’re gonna hang out here, in the back. That way we have eyes on the moms at all times,” Paxton said. 

Devi took a drink of her drink and made a face. “This is your green tea.” She handed it back to him and he traded her drink for his. 

“It’s not that bad,” Paxton countered, with the straw in his mouth. 

“Eleanor, Trent, are you guys okay heading to electronics in case we need to herd the moms that way?”

Trent looked at Eleanor and shrugged. “If it’s cool with you?”

Eleanor smiled, maybe too big, and a little fake. “Totally fine!” 

Paxton narrowed his eyes, confused at Eleanor but Trent didn’t seem to be bothered by the over the top smile, he even looked relieved.    
  
“Well team, I believe in us and our ability to manipulate moms today. We’re gonna make it happen this time,” Devi said, sounding like a high school football coach. “Keep on the group chat and let’s do this.” 

“Thanks Coach Taylor,” Trent said. 

“What?” Devi asked, confused. 

“Never mind.” Trent turned to head towards electronics. 

Eleanor took his hand and Devi could hear her talking to him as they went. “I haven’t actually seen Friday Night Lights, we should watch it.” 

“Are they fine again?” Paxton asked, walking to the table that was furthest away from the Dollar Spot but still with a clear line of sight. 

Devi followed him and sat down, pulling her hood over her head. “Guess so.” 

Paxton looked at her. “Really? Your hood?”

“I hope you brought something to hide your incredibly good looking and recognizable face,” Devi patted his cheek. “You’re gonna blow the whole con if you’re not going to bother disguising yourself.” 

“We’re way back here, 30 feet from where they’ll be.” 

“My mom has eyes like a hawk.” Devi pulled a baseball hat out of her bag. “Here, put it on.” 

Paxton swerved to avoid her putting the hat on his head. “Hey, hey, watch the hair.” 

“Oh my god.” Devi smiled. 

“I’ll put it on myself!” He took the hat and smoothed his hair in several spots before putting in on his head, delicately. 

“I had no idea you were this concerned about your hair,” Devi said, smiling mischievously and lifting the collar of his shirt up as if that would help disguise him. “I love learning new things about you.”

McEnroe: Things were less cute on the other side of the store where Trent and Eleanor were camped out. 

“Are we really just going to look at video games? How is that helping?” Eleanor asked, annoyed. 

“Our only job is to be backup, what else are we going to do?” Trent looked down and their hands. “You could just walk away, we don’t have to hold hands for the con.” 

“I…” Eleanor started but couldn’t seem to keep going. She didn’t let go of his hand though. 

“I’m such a moron,” Trent mumbled under his breath.

That spurred Eleanor into action. 

“No, you aren’t. I’ve been giving mixed signals and that’s not fair to you. I’m sorry!” She huffed and then kept going. “I’m sorry!” 

“Are you mad at me?” Trent asked, confused. “You’re yelling.” 

“No, but this is my fault. You’ve been nothing but cool and chill and direct about liking me and I’ve been wishy washy and hot and cold and-” 

**Fabiola to GROUP:  
** I got eyes on Mrs. H-Y

  
  


Eleanor and Trent both looked at their phones, but Eleanor put hers in her back pocket quickly and looked back at Trent. She nodded, her face resolved. “Would you like to go see the new Fast and Furious movie with me this week? As a date?”

Trent looked around, checking behind him, behind her perhaps a little exaggerated.    
  
“What are you doing?” Eleanor asked, annoyed. 

“I’m just making sure you’re talking to me.” Trent put his free hand on his chest for emphasis. 

Eleanor sighed. “I deserve that.” 

“I looked up the community theater production of The Importance of Being Earnest that’s going on next week and we could go there on a date.” Trent had the smallest, cautious smile. 

“That play is terrible and it’s going to be 100 times worse as a community theater production so I think I’d rather go to the movies,” she said, her smile taking over her whole face, her eyes crinkling and her cheeks flushing, too. 

“I’d go to a boring ass play for you, E.” He looked at her fondly. She started to lean in to kiss him but a Target employee took that moment to ask if they needed help.    
  
“How is that the same employee from the other day?” Eleanor asked once the employee was out of earshot. 

**Fabiola to GROUP:  
** Devi’s mom is here! BOTH MOMS ARE AT THE DOLLAR SPOT

  
  


McEnroe: Oh shit, what is even happening over there? That’s the whole reason the gang is at Target! What are Devi and Paxton doing?

“My mom is gonna walk right past your mom,” Devi muttered. 

“Now you’re not sure we can pull this off? Now? Right as it’s happening?” Paxton asked, surprised, but before Devi could respond, Nalini was right next to Mrs. H-Y. They were looking at the same $3 candle display. “Shit, shit, shit.” 

“It’s fine, it’s totally fine, they’re gonna…”

**Fabiola to GROUP:**   
WHAT THE FUCK IS MY MOM DOING HERE?

  
  


Paxton and Devi both turned quickly to see Mrs. Torres coming through the doors. She made a beeline for the Dollar Spot and then she recognized Dr. Vishwakumar. It felt like it was happening in slow motion. They hadn’t planned for this. It was a variable that couldn’t be controlled and the whole thing was about to blow up. 

**Eleanor to GROUP:**   
WHAT? WHAT’S HAPPENING? SOMEONE TELL US or we’re coming closer to see!

  
  


“Nalini! I’m so glad I ran into you!” Fabiola’s mom spotted her right out of the gate. This was not good. 

“Hi, Elise, smell this candle, it’s only $3.” Nalini shoved the candle in Elise’s face. 

“That smells amazing.” She picked up another candle and smelled it. 

“You’ve got to smell this one,” Paxton’s mom offered the candle to Nalini. 

McEnroe: Oh my god! The moms are talking! I’m so nervous!

Devi leaned on the table, her hand on Paxton’s knee, digging into the skin there probably too hard but Paxton didn’t notice because he was tense as when I’m waiting to see which way an umpire will call the ball when it hits the line. 

“Fuck,” Devi whispered, her eyes never straying from the moms all sniffing candles. 

“We have to talk about the girls, I wanted to throw a big party for Fab for her sixteenth but-“ Mrs. Torres paused and then started again, speaking to Paxton’s mom. “Lindsey, right? Lindsey Hall-Yoshida?” 

Nalini turned quickly and narrowed her eyes at Mrs. H-Y.

Paxton put his hand over Devi’s now and held his breath. Devi continued to swear under her breath. 

“Yes, I feel like we met ages ago, when the kids we’re in elementary?” Paxton’s mom answered, holding out her hand to shake both moms. “I’m so happy I ran into you!”

“It’s too much, she’s gonna blow it,” Paxton said, picking up his phone and dialing Trent. 

“No wait, it’s gonna be fine,” Devi smacked his arm but she didn’t believe it. 

“Anyway, a party for Fab’s birthday, but I thought you know, it should be a mixed party, get some boys out too, obviously just boys who are friends you know,” Elise went on and Mrs. Hall-Yoshida lit up. 

“Oh shit,” Devi said, panicking. “We gotta separate them now!”

“Trent, we gotta go nuclear!” Paxton said as Trent picked up the phone. Paxton pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and hit the panic button on the keys. 

“What are you doing?” Devi asked, ready to jump into the fray and break the moms up herself, but Paxton held her back. 

An announcement came over the loudspeaker, “Will the driver of a blue Toyota 4Runner with the plate number C98367 please meet an employee at your vehicle?” 

Paxton’s mom looked up as she heard the announcement then immediately rushed outside. 

“That was Trent,” Devi said, and Paxton nodded. “What’s gonna stop her from coming back in the store?” 

He held up the keys and again hit the panic button. “She doesn’t know I have the second set of keys and I’m just gonna keep randomly pushing it. She’ll have to go home.” 

**Trent to GROUP** :   
Uhhhh we might be on the run trying to hide from the employee that saw us making out the last time and now saw me using the intercom so you guys go ahead without us.

  
  


“Making out last time?” Devi asked, confused. 

Paxton shook his head, he didn’t know what that was about either. “Guess we wait for the moms to make their way out of the Dollar Spot and go home.”

“I guess we go to Plan K now.” Devi sighed. 

“What if,” Paxton started, pulling the hat off his head. “ What if we give up?”

Devi glared at him. “We have to do this!” 

“We don’t.” 

“Your mom is gonna try and meet my mom and then everything blows up and we’re dead!” Devi folded her arms across her chest. 

“Then we’re dead. I’m tired of trying to plan full on heist films on a daily basis! If i’m bored of it, imagine how annoyed our friends must be!” 

“You’re bored? Great. That’s what you’re gonna be when my mom finds out that we’ve been dating for almost three months behind her back and she grounds me until my frontal cortex is fully formed! You just won’t see me! Imagine how boring that will be!” 

Paxton bit his cheek, resigned. “We’re already up to Plan K?”

“Yeah because I’m not a quitter,” she snapped. It was accusatory and Paxton didn’t like the tone. 

“The fuck?”

Devi looked away, out at the women’s clothing section in the distance. She knew she’d pushed way too far but she didn’t want to admit it. 

Paxton stood up. Devi did too, she didn’t want this to be a thing. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

Paxton looked at her, he wasn’t angry, he was hurt. That was ten times worse. “Didn’t mean what?”

“I-” Devi couldn’t finish.    
  
“I know what you meant and that’s not cool. Really fucking not cool.” 

“I don’t think…” But Devi couldn’t figure out a way to unfuck the problem. She had very quickly made a mess and the way out of it wasn’t immediately clear. 

“I’m gonna go, text someone in the group to take you home,” Paxton said. He remembered his collar was flipped up and he pulled it down. “I’ll call you later.” 

Devi bit her lip and tried not to cry. 

McEnroe: Devi got a ride with Fab and Eve. If they didn’t believe her lie about Paxton being called into work suddenly, they didn’t say anything. 

Fabiola apologized profusely for her mom wrecking the con but Devi waved her off.    
  
“It was silly to think I could actually control the situation.” 

McEnroe: And she tried to internalize that. 

Devi’s confidence and plans had not worked. Movies were easier to write, cons were not something she could actually perform, and the only thing that had come out of it, besides a fight with Paxton, was the possibility that Trent and Eleanor might be banned from Target for life.

Quitting was the smart thing to do in this situation. It was time to throw in the towel. She knew that now. But now she had a whole other problem. She’d have to apologize to Paxton. It was embarrassing she couldn’t get the apology out the minute it happened. But it was like he didn’t believe in her abilities to get the thing done! Which...okay so she couldn’t get the thing done so it wasn’t at all harsh for him to put his foot down. It needed to be done. 

“Actually, can you drop me off here?” she asked. 

Fab turned to see her in the back seat. “Here? Just on the corner?”

“I need to think, I’m gonna walk the rest of the way.” 

But she didn’t go home. Devi walked to Paxton’s house. She had to make it right as quickly as possible because letting it go one more minute felt like she was making it worse. 

Becca answered the door and directed Devi to the garage, where Paxton was huddled over his laptop.

“I said I’d call you,” he said, not looking up from his computer. 

“I needed to apologize right away,” Devi replied, coming to stand in front of the coffee table. She put her hands behind her back and took a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have said it.” 

“Okay.” He still didn’t look up at her. 

McEnroe: That was fine. She deserved that. 

“In my mind, I could control this. But obviously, I can’t. I can’t control how other people interact no matter how precisely I set up a situation.” Devi pushed some hair behind her ear. “You were right to reel me in. I was just too proud to admit it.” 

“You could have just said that,” Paxton said, finally looking up. 

“True,” Devi gave a small, tentative smile. “But I didn’t want to admit it. So instead I took something you trusted me with and used it against you and not only did I hurt you, but I betrayed your trust.” 

Paxton looked off to the side, just so he wouldn’t have to look at her. He blew out air and looked back. 

“I’m sorry,” Devi said, softly. “I’m not going to do that again.” 

He didn’t say anything for a few seconds and Devi started to worry that she was too late. She’d gone too far. 

“It’s fine,” he said, his voice strained. 

“You don’t have to say it’s okay. What I did wasn’t fine,” she countered. 

“It’s not fine, but it will eventually be fine.” Paxton stood up, to do what? She didn’t know, because she stopped him before he could do more than stand up. 

“Wait, I have something for you!” Devi swung her bag around and unzipped it. She pulled a paper from the bag and held it out for Paxton. 

“What’s this?” 

“It’s the math portion you were doing before you demanded that my clothes were your clothes the other day when you were at my house.” 

“They’re my sweats,” Paxton said, finally cracking the smallest smile. 

Devi smiled back, wider. “As a peace offering to go with my apology, yes, they’re your clothes. But I’m not giving them back. They’re mine now.” 

Paxton let out a short, quick laugh. “I’ll take it. But why do you have the math worksheet from the other night?”

“I graded it against the answers in the back of the workbook.” Devi’s face lit up. “It turns out, my dear boyfriend, you are good at math now.” 

He looked at her unsure, his eyes narrowed and he bit his lip. “Are you fucking with me?”

“Nope.” Devi was grinning ear to ear, now, she was so proud of him. “You only missed one question and even that question, all your steps were right, you just miscarried a number.” 

“I’m...good at math?” he asked, not quite believing her, but finally taking the paper to examine it.   
  
“Yeah, you are. Fucking murdered the math section!” 

He looked over the paper and then took two steps, grabbed her around the waist and hugged her tight. 

“I didn’t even need your help! I did that shit on my own! With the goddamn workbook!” 

Devi felt that feeling in her stomach again. The butterflies, the lightness, the utter joy of seeing Paxton succeed was overwhelming her. She looked at his face and felt like she might cry happy tears. What the hell was that about?

Paxton looked at her and his smile was different, she couldn’t place it. His eyes were still happy and his cheeks were a little pink, and he looked at her lips. But it wasn’t like the way he usually kissed her. He didn’t just lean in and do it. They stood there, in each other’s arms, just staring. 

“Paxton, I need your gym bag-” Mrs. Hall-Yoshida stopped when she came through the door. 

Devi immediately put space between her and Paxton and he scrunched up his face, embarrassed his mom had barged in. He let Devi put the space between them but he kept his hand on the back of her waist. 

He cleared his throat and looked at his mother expectantly. Devi looked at the ground. 

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were here, Devi.” 

“Just here for a minute. I have to go home,” she said, giving Mrs. H-Y a tightlipped smile. “I brought Paxton a math practice test he did, he-”

“Left it at her house,” he said, cutting Devi off. 

Devi’s brows furrowed, why didn’t he want to tell his mom about the accomplishment?

“Well since you’re here, I saw Devi’s mom today! At Target!” 

Paxton grabbed some of the fabric of the back of Devi’s shirt in his hand that rested there, his jaw tightened.

Devi gulped. “That’s nice.”

“It was! I met her and Denise Torres, we smelled candles, Target is really upping their Dollar Spot game!” 

“Mom, you say that every time you go to Target,” Paxton replied. 

“It was lovely and I’m so glad I ran into her. Especially since she’s so busy!”

“So that was enough?” Devi asked cautiously. 

Mrs. Hall-Yoshida tilted her head like she didn’t understand. 

“She means, that’s great! We’re glad you guys ran into each other.” Paxton let go off the fabric of Devi’s shirt and smoothed it down. “Were you saying something about my gym bag?” 

Paxton’s mom shook her head a minute as if she was clearing it. “Right! I need your gym bag on the washer so I can wash it before the trip. And please clean all the dirty socks from out of the back of your closet. I know they’re back there just lurking, smelling, molding or something.”    
  
“Mom!” Paxton whined, tilting his head towards Devi, embarrassed.

“Devi, teenage boys are disgusting and I’m not afraid to tell you so, last year his bag was growing several cultures of penicillin when we got back from Japan because he hadn’t pulled it out for me to wash.” 

“Mom!” 

She gave Paxton a withering look. “Just make sure it’s on the washer so it can go in with the other stuff or I’ll figure out worse embarrassing things to tell Devi.” 

Paxton scrubbed his face with his free hand and nodded. His mother left and Devi bust out laughing. 

“You’re disgusting.” 

“Shut up,” he said, but then he shifted, pulling her closer to him. 

“Why didn’t you let me tell your mom about the practice test?”

“It’s, it’s whatever.” He was brushing her off and it wasn’t hard to distract her. “It worked, Devi, the mom con worked!” 

Devi covered her mouth, keeping a scream contained so as to not alarm anyone else. “It worked!” 

McEnroe: I can’t believe that convoluted shit worked! Who saw this coming? Not me! Even Devi had given up on the idea! And look at them now. They’re real cons. They made it work and all of their problems were solved, right? Okay probably not. But for now, things were looking pretty good. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Idk when I'll be able to post again because i've got a lot of real life things happening that require my attention but idk maybe i'll use this as an excuse to procrastinate those things and be super irresponsible. WHO CAN SAY? I'm doing small sneak peeks on tumblr (cupcakesandtv) to hold yall over!


End file.
